Protective shoe covering



Oct. 25, 1955 c. E. EMMER 2,721,399

PROTECTIVE SHOE COVERING Filed May 24, 1954 1.222%: C ELES EDWARD EMMEBQsQ/Q EZZQ.

United States Patent PROTECTIVE SHOE COVERING Charles Edward Emmer,Three Oaks, Mich, assignor to Warren Featherbone Co., Three Oaks, Mich,a corporation of Michigan Application May 24, 1954, Serial No. 431,886

3 Claims. (Cl. 36-7.1)

This invention relates to a protective shoe covering for use in groundradiation areas.

Radioactive particles of dust and the like are frequently accumulated oncertain floors and grounds of atomic plants and testing sites (groundradiation areas). Temporary contact with such areas may be harmless,under proper conditions, but hazards are apt to arise for a long timefrom the entrainment of radioactive particles by a persons shoes and thepersons prolonged exposure thereto.

The invention eliminates such hazards. It does so by providing a shoecovering which is particularly easy to store, issue, use, remove,discard and destroy or it may be decontaminated if desired for reuse. Itcan easily be slipped on over shoes of any size and securely heldthereon while in use; and it is extremely simple and inexpensive tomake.

These and related features will be understood upon a perusal of thedetailed disclosure of a preferred embodiment, which follows. In thedrawing:

Figure 1 is a top view of the shoe covering when closed.

Figure 2 is a side view thereof.

Figure 3 is a bottom View thereof.

Figure 4 is a top view of the shoe covering when opened.

The new shoe covering consists of two mutually overlying, flat sheets11, 12 of flexible, abrasion-resistant material such as rubberlikeplastic and the like, both sheets having practically the same size andouter contour. They are elongated and rounded at both ends. Preferablythey are somewhat Wider near one end 13, normally forming the back orheel than at the other or front end 14. Adjacent their outer contours aplastic heat seal 15 is suitably formed between the sheets 11, 12. Theheat-sealing and cutting of the material can be performed with thematerial in one and the same position, insuring accuracy of register.

The lower sheet or sole 12 and an outer, annular part of the upper sheet11 are imperforate, whereas the inner portion of the upper sheet 11 isdivided into three separate flaps or lobes 16, 17, 18 by suitable slitsor cuts. A longitudinal cut 19 divides an inner front part of the uppersheet into two symmetrical flaps or portions 16, 17 and a transverse cut20 forms a separate heel part 18, symmetrically disposed relative tothese front parts.

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The cuts 19 and 20 are preferably in the nature of substantiallyline-shaped, narrow slits, except that their free ends are desirablyenlarged into small punched-out circular openings 21. This designminimizes, in manufacture, the need for disposal of waste stock, whileminimizing in use the stressing of the slit ends.

In use, the outer parts of the unit act as a pocket. Vertical expansionof this pocket by the inserted shoe, of practically any size, causes atendency of the flaps 16, 17, 18 to close and actually to overlap andthus to cling to the shoe. Of course it is possible, for extra safety,to connect the inner ends 22 of the flaps 16, 17 by a safety pin or thelike, but this is generally unnecessary except in cases where thearticle is used by persons with unusually small shoes.

The transverse slot 20 between the heel flap 18 and the front flaps 16,17 is best cut in form of a single sine wave curve the crest of whichcoincides with the back end of the longitudinal slot 19, thus providinga convenient tab at the back of the heel for pulling off the shoecovering. At the same time, insertion of the shoe between the frontlobes 16, 17 is facilitated.

In their normal, perfectly flat condition these articles are easy tostore and equally easy to issue to the individuals who need them, tocarry to the danger area and there to apply to the shoe. They areequally easy when discarded to be picked up, collected and destroyedwithout danger and waste.

What is claimed is:

l. A protective, readily applicable and disposable shoe coveringconsisting of two similar, flat, superposed, elongated and terminallyrounded sheets of flexible abrasionresistant material, heat-sealedtogether adjacent their outer contours; one of said sheets and an outerannular part of the other being imperforate and the inner part of theother being slitted by substantially line-shaped cuts subdividing saidinner part into a pair of front lobes and a back lobe.

2. An article as defined by claim 1 wherein said lobes are formed by asingle slit transverse of said inner part and a single additional slitextending from said transverse slit longitudinally of said inner part inone direction only.

3. An article as defined by claim 2 wherein the transverse slit iswave-shaped to form a tab at the heel of the shoe covering.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,447,586 Zucker Mar. 6, 1923 1,794,850 Hatch Mar. 3, 1931 1,830,471 LeDorf Nov. 3, 1931 2,041,505 Woerle May 19, 1936 2,479,006 Garth Aug. 16,1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 129,014 Austria July 11, 1932 244,928 Germany Mar.21, 1912

